Carbon offsetting - me, you and the planet

As we are moving through the "naughties", the major issues that concern motorists are changing. Ten years ago, cheap car insurance used to be top of the agenda but now, the importance of getting a good deal on a motor insurance quote pales in comparison with the issue of becoming carbon neutral.

Ah yes, carbon emissions. Every day we hear about them on TV and read about them on the net, where carbon offsetting is presented as the all-encompassing solution for fixing the damage we do to our planet by driving our gas-guzzling cars. It seems like hundreds of companies have sprung up in a matter of months, kindly offering to "clear your emissions" - in the exact words of one web-based firm.

I find that particular phrase is somewhat unclear and rather misleading, however. It can't possibly clear my emissions - unless this company has found a remarkable way of making them disappear altogether, in which case it should be saving the world rather than marketing £25 packages to single customers.

Although this is just a single slip of the tongue (perhaps), it is something I find rather typical of many carbon offsetting projects. A large proportion of them seem to give the message that if I offset my annual carbon dioxide emissions (for a bargain price of £20-40), my conscience will be clear and I won't be responsible for any of the consequences of last year's motoring.

However, that simply isn't accurate. Cars don't just produce carbon dioxide; they also emit a whole host of other gases, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide. It doesn't matter how many trees are planted, it won't help reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides floating around in our atmosphere. In fact, planting trees could end up producing further pollution, as they produce natural hydrocarbons which react with nitrogen oxides to form smog and acid rain.

Most of the carbon offsetting websites told me that the carbon dioxide (3.1 gallons) my car emits while doing my annual mileage (10,000 miles) would be offset by planting three or four trees. I was informed that one tree planted is equal to one gallon of carbon dioxide, once the tree has matured. This sounds great - up until the clause about trees maturing. The rate at which a tree matures depends a lot on the soil and weather conditions, as well as the kind of tree it is, but on average, most trees take between 40 and 100 years to mature.

So, assuming the trees are maintained (something usually not guaranteed) and survive, in 100 years I will have offset the carbon my car emitted last year. Most scientists agree that it will be too late by then.

The ice caps will have melted and the sea levels will have risen because the temperature will have increased by up to 5.8 degrees Celsius. This global warming will also cause havoc in the delicate balance of many natural environments, meaning that, in 100 years, the trees we are so dedicatedly planting may not be home to the same vibrant animal and insect-life that they are now.

Don't get the wrong impression, I do think that carbon offsetting projects have their place and I am certainly in favour of replenishing woodland in the UK. However, offsetting shouldn't be cited as the be all and end all of the fight against climate change because it is so much more effective to reduce the emissions in the first place.

Some carbon offsetting companies do emphasise this point to their customers and encourage them to cut their emissions then offset what remains. This seems to be a much more responsible position to take and helps to establish these companies' reputations as being truly eco-friendly as opposed to using climate change to their own (more profitable) ends.

It isn't going to be easy to find an answer to halting climate change but now carbon offsetting companies have got motorists thinking about eco-friendly driving, it is important that this issue remains at the forefront of drivers' minds. If we regress back to thinking more about cheap car insurance than harmful emissions, those trees we are so faithfully planting might never get the chance to mature.

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